Funny Musicians

It really is a shame when a band or musicians tries to do something that is simply beyond them.

Comedy is generally the areas where these people tragically fall down. How many truly awful music videos have we seen? The type where a band will film some kind of 'mockumentary' about their lives on the road. Or the videos that have poorly placed celebrities interacting and poking fun at the band. Or, worst of all, when a musician will dress up as another and parody them. Surely all real musicians should strive to move away from Weird Al Yankovic's 'music' videos. That said, I can understand the reasoning behind many of these videos. Frequently a band's message is very heavy and morbid and so to lighten the tension and make fun of themselves they wil ladd some comedy to their videos.

While this is rarely successful, it is at least more understandable than when a band tries to be funny live. I was forced to listen to a band recently that really believed they were the funniest comedians on the planet. A group of people that thought their music was so amazing that they should do the audience yet another service and bestow their whimsical humour upon them. It is a real shame, however, that every word out of their mouth was utter tripe. How many times does a joke have to land flat before a band will get the message that either they are not funny or that people do not want to hear their 'humour'.

In music videos these bands have a small chance at making fun at themselves. In this live situation I felt that the band was making fun of the audience. In actuality they were not trying to impress the audience with their humour or how cutting their wit was. They were trying to disguise their poor performance and lacklustre song writing. While comedy is a wonderful thing when done well it is absolutely disastrous when an artist dives into it instead of focusing on improving their craft.

Do not get me wrong though, people can be brilliant musicians and brilliant comedians at the same time. The problem is, that most are awful at both.

-The English Student

Oh! The Angst!

Cynicism has become an important part of student life.

This past week has seen my pessimism reach previously un-fathomed depths. Along with the usual bitching and moaning relating to the college/country/planet authorities, the smaller things have come within the reticule of my depressing rifle. The aggression of certain breeds of bird, the use of the word "supposebly" and the sogginess of tomatoes have all been the subject of bitter, never-ending tirades.

Oddly enough, however, I no longer view this pessimism as a bad thing. With previous little time left in college, it is the right of the student to verbally tear to shreds every single aspect of existence. Nothing should be left along from our scathing and snide remarks that undermine the very laws of existence. We are thus united under a banner of negation.

For after all, this college era is most certainly ending. We will not have the luxury of complaint for much longer as we must finally engage with the system rather than deriding it from afar. Inevitably, we must become the people we despise. But if we can hold on to the smallest part of our disquiet, or at least the memory of it, then perhaps we can give future generations less to complain about.

If not, then at least they can enjoy their small rebellion as we have enjoyed ours!

-The English Student

Blur versus Oasis

With the release of a new Oasis album, an age-old and epic debate has re-emerged: who is better, Blur or Oasis?

The English Student strives to place biases and tendencies to one side when writing. It is essential that one's moral principles are upheld by strong, even-handed foundations of empathy. To argue a point, one must view the argument from all sides and weigh all points fairly and equitably. This is justice, this is integrity and indeed, this is the cornerstone of these short compositions.

However, I must (temporarily, of course) step down from these lofty and pretentious heights in order to highlight an absolute truth: Oasis are terrible. They have been playing the same insipid songs for the past fifteen years and every time they release something "new", the bile rises a little higher in my gullet. Perhaps if the band had some originality or creativity, or some respect for other musicians, or even the tiniest hint of manners, I would find them less repulsive. But even then, I'm quite sure that the obnoxious scowl of Liam Gallagher would be enough to disgust me.

Fortunately, for every evil in this world, we often find a good. Moriarty had his Holmes, Ganon had his Link, Nadal has his Federer and Oasis have their Blur. In contrast to the aforementioned talentless thugs, Blur have managed to keep their music fresh and vibrant while maintaining a very high quality of production. I truly love their intricate, fun and profound music. Every album from the band shows a new side to their interesting and creative work, while side projects and solo recordings themselves trump anything provided by the rotting septic tank that is Oasis.

Comrades, rise up and be counted! We must stop pandering to these worn out hacks and finally shovel their putrid discography onto the dung heap!

-The English Student